Wash cover art

Wash

A Novel

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Wash

By: Margaret Wrinkle
Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur, Kevin Stillwell, Betty Hart, Christy Clark, Andrew Sweeney, DeMario Clarke
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About this listen

In this luminous debut, Margaret Wrinkle takes us on an unforgettable journey across continents and through time, from the burgeoning American South to West Africa and deep into the ancestral stories that reside in the soul. Wash introduces a remarkable new voice in American literature.

In early 1800s Tennessee, two men find themselves locked in an intimate power struggle. Richardson, a troubled Revolutionary War veteran, has spent his life fighting not only for his country but also for wealth and status. When the pressures of westward expansion and debt threaten to destroy everything he’s built, he sets Washington, a young man he owns, to work as his breeding sire. Wash, the first member of his family to be born into slavery, struggles to hold onto his only solace: The spirituality inherited from his shamanic mother. As he navigates the treacherous currents of his position, despair and disease lead him to a potent healer named Pallas. Their tender love unfolds against this turbulent backdrop while she inspires him to forge a new understanding of his heritage and his place in it. Once Richardson and Wash find themselves at a crossroads, all three lives are pushed to the brink.

©2013 Margaret Wrinkle. Recorded by arrangement with Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc. Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction

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Critic reviews

“A masterly literary work…This debut occasions celebration. Haunting, tender and superbly measured, Wash is both redemptive and affirming.” (New York Times Book Review)
“The voices of the past cannot speak for themselves and must rely on the artists of the future to honor them. It’s a profound responsibility and one that Margaret Wrinkle meets in her brilliant novel, Wash.” (The Wall Street Journal)
“Books like William Styron’s The Confessions of Nat Turner, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Edward P. Jones’ The Known World, and Russell Banks’ Cloudsplitter form a kind of Truth and Reconciliation Commission of their own. Add Margaret Wrinkle’s Wash to that illustrious company.” (The Dallas Morning News)
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Most relevant
I absolutely loved the performance of the different narrators , bringing this book to life and filling it with so much atmosphere. I almost found excuses to get into my car. It was just a delicious book to listen to dealing with a difficult subject. Magically written.
Its the best audiobook I have downloaded so far

Best reading I have heard

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